There is more here than mist, br duckweed and spatterdocks. br A bowfin, three-feet long, br lurks amid the stalks br br of cattails, preying on br a school of yellow bass. br A pickerel prowls amid br brown tamaracks and grass. br br A snapper with musket shot br still lodged inside its tail, br devours a bloated frog, br exposing only its shell. br br And at the water’s edge, br a towering black gum, br old as the liberty bell, br watches deaf and dumb. br br Its leaves soon will turn red br for the three hundredth autumn: br a leaf for every brave br buried at the bottom.